As someone who falls into the same category as Beth and Quark I think you have summed up all of this quite nicely. My husband is a huge sci-fi fan and the whole ideas/technology/human nature/systems is largely what draws him to it. He watches Star Trek to unwind and I....do anything else that is in another room while that's happening. :)

12 days until you get married and you write a lj dissertation on sci-fi vs space opera. Stress coping mechanism? :) I'm so excited for you!!!!!